Backstage at LFW: Beauty Takes A Cue From You

Looks inspired by Londoners on the catwalks? You heard it here first...

The mornings play host to a flurry of activity: exercise, breakfast, a hasty shower, perhaps a sneaky Berocca and a touch of make-up before hopping on the tube. It’s a bit slapdash and seems a world away from the heady world of fashion. Or is it? While once upon upon a time women were expected to slavishly copy beauty trends shown biannually by the great couture houses, it seems that fashion has now decided to draw inspiration from we hurried, low-key Londoners.

Office to Bar: Henry Holland

Urban Warrior was the brief and models were accordingly made up under the watchful eye of Isamaya French for MAC with a haze of black eyeliner finished with many lashings of mascara. Sound high-octane? Not. At. All. The whole thing looked a bit hurried, decidedly unfussy and completely and utterly cool. Hair by Maria Kovacs for Catwalk by Tigi echoed the whole laid-back vibe and was sleek at the top with tousled lengths tucked into scarves (we’ve all been there).

Morning After the Night Before: Sibling

Ever woken up looking pasty with last night’s sparkly nails still on and hair resembling a bush? Sibling salute you. In fact, they sent a bunch of models down the runway looking almost like you; make-up consisted of only a subtle contour with gloss tapped on cheekbones for definition, hair was of the punky, huge variety and nails were defiantly bright and coated in a thick bed of glitter.

Commuter Chic: Holly Fulton

Andrew Gallimore for MAC at Holly Fulton similarly tapped into the whole dishevelled/time-strapped Londoner vibe by applying a slightly chalky pink to cheeks, the bridge of the nose and the lip to suggest a slightly flustered complexion (strictly without a hard line in sight – pat, pat and pat again to diffuse the colour). Hair was mostly tied half back by James Pecis for L’Oreal Paris, and a fringe applied for a ‘prim but improper’ finish. So far, so very London. Roll on day three…